FIELD TRIP WEEK - South Tyrol, Alto Adige

Last school year for Field Trips Week (end of September), I went to Berlin with the 11th graders. This year, I was assigned to the 9th grade trip... to the Dolomites! I was really excited, as the Dolomites have been on my wish list of travel spots.

After about a 4-ish hour bus ride, we were in the Alto Adige (South Tyrol) area, very close to Austria. It actually felt a lot more like Austria than Italy and they speak German much more than Italian.

It felt so good to be up in the mountains with fresh air and cool weather. The sun was out for the week, raining when we got on the bus for the trip back to school on Friday (lucky!).

What a school field trip!! We had 39 students and activities included: mountain biking, high ropes course, handmade ziplining, forest games, bouldering, rock climbing on the side of a mountain, a 10-hour day hike, a night hike, waking up to watch the sunrise while on top of a mountain... ummmmm YES!

The view from my hotel room. I meeeeeeannnnnn... amazing!!

After checking into the hotel, we went to a high ropes course. It was quite expansive and I like how it was set up. We watched a video about clipping in and the harnesses were double-clips, so we could do it all individually instead of having a guide belaying each person one at a time. It was a lot of fun -- and all students participated and got up there!

Definitely a high-light of the week for me was watching the sun rise from behind a mountain while we sat at a cafe atop a mountain. Wow!! Definitely worth the 4:30am wake-up. From there, we went on a 10-hour hike... yikes!

We were on top of a mountain (having taken two different chairlifts up... and up!). The views were amazing. 360-degree view, surrounded by expansive mountains.

Two thumbs up!

Alba Adriatica - the sea!

I haven't posted in a while. School is starting back up and everything is busy - a good busy!

My time in Alba Adriatica, Abruzzo was fantastic. My friend, Angela, and I had a great time with my cousins... they are incredibly accommodating, generous, and fun to be around.

The very first thing that we did after arriving at the train station was to go to Christopher and Denis' pizzeria!! They told us that they were planning to open one when I was there last Christmas with my family... and they have... and it's great!

Denis and his dad, Vincenzo

Silvana

Christopher

The pizza is delicious! We went here a few times... sometimes just to hang out in the afternoon. The pizzeria is just a few blocks from Gina's house (where we stayed), so Gina would walk over with us and hang out for a while.

If you look at the sign for the pizzeria in the first photo above, you can see that half is a sunrise and the other half is a pizza. Alba (from the town's name, Alba Adriatica) means sunrise... and the town is located on the Adriatic Sea. They worked that into the pizzeria's name too, which I love. Christopher designed the sign.   : )

driving - Alba Adriatica to Sorrento, italy

We left Alba Adriatica super early in the morning, in order to be able to return the rental car in Sorrento by the time Hertz closed for the Saturday.

The ride was gorgeous the entire way. We went through the mountains... but first, we departed Alba Adriatica with the sea to the left... as well as a gorgeous sunrise  : )

Mountains!

A view of Mount Vesuvius!

Our first great lookout view of Sorrento!!